A Rock Wall and a Cranky Baby!

June 21, 2008: Today my mom and dad came over and helped us finish our rock wall. Last summer we pulled out the large hill in our backyard and made rock walls to that it would extend our backyard and add some grassy areas. Originally our backyard was just one large hill didn't leave any flat areas to play on. Aaron has a friend, Shane, that owns his own excavating equipment and he helped us dig out the hill and place the large rocks for our rock wall. That took up all last summer and so this summer we needed to pull out all the weeds that had grown in between the rocks, add some top soil and plant some plants and flower in between the cracks. It was kind of a daunting project to tackle, especially with a baby. So my parents being the nice people they are, offered to help us out. My dad and Aaron worked on the drip system and placing all the dirt while my mom and I picked out the plants. It was so much work that we only ended up finishing the small rock wall. However it looks fabulous! If we can get the larger of the walls finished soon along with the waterfall that we plan on installing, we will have the best yard on th block.
Things actually would have moved a little faster had Jade not have been so cranky all day. She was so congested that she couldn't eat, breathe or sleep very well. Besides being congested, she seemed more gassy than normal. Nursing was a disaster today. It always has been difficult with Jade but today she didn't want anything. Luckily I have been supplementing her with formula so she's getting the nutrition she needs. I think I will call her pediatrican on Monday and schedule an appointment. This is ridiculous. We need to find out why Jade is so gassy. There's got to be something we can do.

Jade's Baby Shower

June 19, 2008: The ladies from Jordan Valley Hospital ER threw me and Jade a baby shower. Amy, Joy and Kelli put it together as an open house at Amy's house. We had a potluck dinner, cake and ice cream and opened up presents. It was so much fun. Jade did really well too. I was a little afraid that she would be super fussy because I think she's starting to get sick again. She has a runny nose and is more fussy than usual but she actually did really great. She loved the attention that all the ladies gave her, she would smile and coo while the ladies passed her around the room. She really was quite fun. She started to get a little fussy but only because it was time for her to eat. We had a wonderful time and appreciated everyone's hospitality and friendship. It's funny how I find the majority of my friends to be my co-workers. They really are wonderful people and I am really lucky to have such wonderful people in my life.
Here are two pictures of Jeannie and Michelle. They were at the party. There is video of the whole event on the camcorder.

Happy Birthday/Happy Father's Day!

June 15, 2008: Today is my 27th birthday. Today also happens to be Father's Day. We spent the night over at my mom and dad's house. All the girls woke up early, including Jade to make the men breakfast. To my surprise Jade woke up and gave me a HUGE smile. What a wonderful birthday present!. We had french toast and opened presents. We got my dad a Magic Bullet so he can make smoothies and I bought Aaron a softball mit. For my birthday my parents got me...wait, this is so exciting...a SEWING MACHINE! Just what I always wanted (this is said with some sarcasm.) Now don't get me wrong, I appreciate all the gifts my parents get me but this wasn't exactly a long awaited gift. Infact I hate sewing and do everything I can to avoid it. So I wasn't exactly thrilled to get the gift. My parents understand though, especially my mother. She doesn't like to sew either, but I guess in order to be in the Mom Club you have to own a sewing machine.
After we had breakfast with my family we went back up to West Jordan for church. We teach the 5 year old CTR class. We have been for the last two years and really enjoy it. (Sometimes.) We then went over to Aaron's parents house and celebrated Father's Day and my birthday. Roanne made her famous lasagna and breadsticks and they gave me $100! It was great!
(There is video on our camcorder of the whole event.)

Summerfest

June 14th, 2008: Today was Summerfest down in Orem. This was Jade's first experience with fireworks. She actually did really good. The loud bangs didn't startle her, in fact, she seemed to be quite facinated with the loud bangs and the bright lights. She watched them all curled up in a blanket for several minutes and then fell asleep. Can you believe that? She seems to really like loud noises. The louder the better it seems.
We also spent the night over at Grandma and Grandpa Gunns because we planned on getting up early and making breakfast-in-bed for Aaron and my dad to celebrate Father's Day. Jade slept so well for staying in a strange bed. She was also really cute and happy for once. She didn't seem to be gassy at all. She actually smiled for the first time. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera to take a picture. I'm sure I'll have another opportunity :)

Death Water!

June 12,2008: My poor parents! They had a scare of their lives today. With Jade being as fussy as she has been for the last week and especially yesterday (which the fussiness continued throughout the night. She hardly slept and neither did we) my parents offered to keep Jade overnight so that we could get some sleep. We were estatic. So we dropped her off at Grandma and Grandpa Gunns house for the night and headed back up to West Jordan in time for Aaron to play his men's softball game. Aaron is on a team with his brothers and my brothers and some old friends. They won and we went out to dinner to celebrate. While we were eating at Goodwood with Jen, Jeremy, Ethan, Boston, Austin, Hudson, Aaron and myself, we got a phone call from my parents. My dad started the conversation by saying, "We are at the ER with Jade but don't worry, everything is fine." Come to find out, Jade had aspirated on some Gripe Water (Gripe Water is a home remedy made up of fennel and licorice juice. It is meant to help babies with colic and stomach gas. My aunt Chickie recommended it to my parents after my mom told her that Jade cries a lot for no reason and that she kicks her legs and screams a lot. Chickie said that she gives it to all of her grandkids and it immediately helps. My parents had bought some about a week back and it seemed to help her)that grandma had given her and started to turn blue. She wouldn't breathe so my parents rushed her to Timpanogos Hospital, just down the street. By the time they got there she had started to breathe again. However they decided to have her checked out. Dad called me right after the doctor had examined her and decided she needed to have a chest xray done. I asked my dad if we should rush down there and he said to wait. She was doing well and they would just wait for the results of the xray and then call us back. He did call us back but by then we were on our way down to Orem. We had decided to go down anyways and make sure she was alright. My dad said that the xrays had come back and that it looked like she might have aspirated some of the gripe water and that the doctor wanted to either send her up to Primary Children's Hospital via an ambulance or send her to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center via POV to be admitted for observation. We got there and Jade was sleeping on the stretcher hooked up to the monitors. She looked great but the doctor was really uncomfortable with her going home. So instead of paying for an ambulance fee we decided to take Jade to the ER at UVRMC ourselves. By this time it was around 11:00pm. When we got to UVRMC the ER doctor examined her and felt like our coming to the ER was a waste of time. Jade was breathing well, her oxygen sats were normal and therefore there was no reason to admit her for observation. So he sent us home. Needless to say my parents didn't end up babysitting her for the night. We took Jade home and watched her really carefully. I kept getting up and checking on her to make sure she was breathing well. So instead of getting a good nights sleep I hardly slept at all that night. The only one that really slept well was Jade. She was exhausted after her long night in the ER. Since then we have stopped giving Jade "Death Water" and my parents won't even go near a syringe or even be in the same room if I have to give medicine to Jade via a syringe. They are scarred for life!

Pictures from the Photo Shoot

1st Baby Photo Shoot

June 11, 2008: Jade's first photo shoot was today. Our neighbor Peter Loosli is a professional photographer and he gave us a free photo shoot as a baby gift. So we scheduled the shoot for today. I thought it was going to be a great day because Jade slept so well and was so happy when she woke up in the morning. However, after getting her out of the bath she just cried and cried. I couldn't figure out what her problem was but she was NOT happy. Peter came over to our house and started to take pictures but Jade just wouldn't cooperate. Peter ended up taking 650 pictures and was here for two hours trying to get a good picture of Jade. Unfortunately we only got a handful of pictures that could be used. The funny thing is that as soon as Peter left, Jade immediately stopped crying and fell right asleep.
I would say it was because she didn't like having her picture taken but in retrospect I don't think she was feeling well that day because after her nap she cried and cried for 3 hours straight. I must admit that it was the first time that I actually had to set Jade down in her room and shut the door so that I could have a few minutes to cool off. She had been crying so much that I just became super frustrated. I felt bad that I was having these feelings about this sweet little girl but I had reached my limit with her that day. I let her cry for about 15 minutes and that was enough. That gave me time enough to reassess, say a little prayer of help, and cool off. That didn't mean she stopped crying. Oh no, she continued to cry until Aaron got home that evening but at least I was able to handle it a little better. I felt so stupid when Aaron got home cause there I am rocking Jade with a tear-stained face and Aaron walks in the door and she stops crying immediately. I just laughed...it was either that or cry again. :) Oh post baby hormones, you've got to love them.